६ सप्टेंबर, २०२०

"Trump hired a 'Faux-Bama' to participate in a video in which Trump 'ritualistically belittled the first black president and then fired him.'"

"[Michael] Cohen's book, 'Disloyal: A Memoir,' doesn't name the man who was allegedly hired to play Obama or provide a specific date for the incident, but it does include a photograph of Trump sitting behind a desk, facing a Black man wearing a suit with an American flag pin affixed to the lapel. On Trump's desk are two books, one displaying Obama's name in large letters."

CNN reports.

How weird is this? It's similar to debate preparation, where someone is brought in to play the role of the candidate's opponent, so he can sharpen his arguments and work on an effective self-presentation. Trump, of course, would never have to face Obama in a debate, but he was running against a continuation of the Obama administration, and he did need to practice arguing against Obama, even though he didn't need to figure out how to be in the room with him and counter his weighty presence. The exercise of telling him off to his face might have been conceived of as an effective way to build Trump's style and confidence. Put Trump in his familiar milieu as a business boss with Obama cut down to the size of a subordinate whom Trump could fire. Do the theater of "The Apprentice." It's a way to practice.

It could also have been an idea for an ad. It might have worked. But it wasn't used, perhaps because it didn't build the belief that Trump has analyzed Obama's work and seen why we shouldn't want the same thing anymore. Cohen isn't a credible witness, but if we take his characterization seriously, once videoed, the scene looked like Trump had "ritualistically belittled" Obama, and it would have been quite sensible to predict that the ad would stimulate a protectiveness toward Obama. Trump certainly managed to criticize Obama successfully, but we never had a picture of him humiliating the man personally. If that was to be an ad, it was scrapped, and that was a sensible enough decision, in retrospect, because Trump won the election.

And now we have Cohen, trying to make some money and to hurt his former client, with this book "Disloyal." With that title, the publisher flaunts Cohen's contemptibility — that's the best move, with this author nobody likes. So the Trump-hating media can rifle through the book and what does it find? CNN leads with this imitation Obama story. That's the worst thing in the book? It's new and it's concrete... and it doesn't rest entirely on Cohen's credibility, because there's a photograph:



Other cherry-picking in the CNN article:
Ranting about Obama after he won office in 2008, Trump said, "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a sh*thole...They are all complete f*cking toilets," according to Cohen. After Nelson Mandela died, Trump allegedly said of South Africa that "Mandela f*cked the whole country up. Now it's a sh*thole. F*ck Mandela. He was no leader."

Cohen also divulges personal details about Trump, including his hair routine, described as a "three-step" combover designed to disguise "unsightly scars on his scalp from a failed hair-implant operation in the 1980s." Writing that he once witnessed Trump shortly after he showered, Cohen recalls that "when his hair wasn't done, his strands of dyed-golden hair reached below his shoulders along the right side of his head and on his back, like a balding Allman Brother or strung out old '60s hippie."
ADDED: I wonder how Biden's hair looks when he steps out of the shower? Why don't we know? Where's that book? We do know how Nancy Pelosi's hair looks post wash, pre-styling.

५२ टिप्पण्या:

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Are we supposed to think that's horrible? It's funny.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I mean, if it were true, which it probably isn't since it came from cnn.

Butkus51 म्हणाले...

If (XI)NN reported it, it must be true.

RoseAnne म्हणाले...

Wasn't there a Correspondents Dinner where Obama publicly made fun of Donald Trump while he was in the audience?

Wince म्हणाले...

They're worried about Trump taking a larger percent of the black vote in 2020.

Darrell म्हणाले...

Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a sh*thole...They are all complete f*cking toilets," according to Cohen. After Nelson Mandela died, Trump allegedly said of South Africa that "Mandela f*cked the whole country up. Now it's a sh*thole. F*ck Mandela. He was no leader

That's what Cohen was thinking. I don't believe Trump would ever say that, even in a close group. But Hillary ranting at Bill's Jewish campaign manager and Jews in general-- after his Arkansas loss-- was real, even if it was not meant to be overheard.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

There is a shithole country theory that to get a modern economy the average IQ has to be a certain level to create excess goods to carry the dumber part of the population along, and the average IQ may be too low in Africa. There's smart and dumb in any population but the relative numbers matter. It's not the leader particularly.

RoseAnne म्हणाले...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8TwRmX6zs4

Obama talking about Donald Trump at White House Correspondents Dinner

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

It’s about leadership. Every attempt to make people hate Trump for being a man with human flaws is totally irrelevant. It’s about leadership, stupid.

Exposing FDR’s paralysis would not have been relevant to his being a masterful Commander-in-Chief in a World War. Roosevelt was a flawed man whose talents saved the USA many times over. That was why hatred of FDR was so intense among the GOP. They were totally jealous of the flawed man’s immense strengths from overcoming polio that they could not defeat him.

Kevin म्हणाले...

I’m waiting for an actual kitchen sink to be thrown by the media at Trump.

There’s still time.

jaydub म्हणाले...

I ritualistically ridiculed the "first Black president" too, but because he was a worthless POS; moreover, I still do because he still is. I'm so effing tired of the insinuation that every criticism of the half White/half Black/all asshole Light Worker is out of bounds because of the half Black part. The US press is corrupt to the core.

TRISTRAM म्हणाले...

I mean, we focus group and discard stuff all time, from don’t choices tho layouts the entire ads. I believe it happened. I even believe it was done to defeat a Democrat, aka malevolently evil, per Reuter’s and Twitter editorial guidelines.

I don’t care.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Dear God, please let there be a tape recording of Trump talking about Obama, Mandela and “shithole” countries.

Ken B म्हणाले...

This wasn’t debate prep. It was pee-gate prep. He paid the man to sleep in a bed then hired hookers to pee in it.

Birkel म्हणाले...

Obama was last in a line of shit president going back a long way.
Reagan was the only brief respite but Congress was too lopsided to achieve much.

Obama wanted power and he wanted serfs.
Fuck him.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Obama is just as white as he is black and it's racist to deny that. It's almost as though his mother never existed.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

The only people still watching CNN are people who are already well-indoctrinated.

cacimbo म्हणाले...

In today's media newspeak the title should read "Mostly Loyal".

wendybar म्हणाले...

First HALF black President. Half White too but he won't acknowledge that, because he's racist.

Steve म्हणाले...

It is a parody from when Trump was on The Apprentice. Apparently in never made it to air. Looks like this has had some extras added to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urFPm857tJA&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=BirtherReportDotCom

Mary Beth म्हणाले...

The people who want us to fire this president are upset he role played at firing the last president?

Michael K म्हणाले...

Mandela tried but the blacks who followed him really destroyed the only successful economy in Africa.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

How weird is this?

How believable is this?

There’s a technique in creative writing classes where one is given a picture and asked to make up a story surrounding it. We are shown a picture of Trump meeting with a slim black man who sort of resembles Barack Obama. Is it posed? Is it photoshopped? Is it a real picture of Trump interacting with a dark-skinned subordinate from his business days? We don’t know. We are asked to believe that Cohen’s story written around this picture is the truth. Given Cohen’s historical lack of willingness to tell the unvarnished truth, why should we?

The Historian म्हणाले...

https://youtu.be/urFPm857tJA

It's a video that allegedly dates from the 2012 Republican convention. The video was posted to YouTube seven years ago.

dreams म्हणाले...

"even though he didn't need to figure out how to be in the room with him and counter his weighty presence."

Obsequious sycophants, sick.

Andrew म्हणाले...

Chuck said, "Dear God, please let there be a tape recording of Trump talking about Obama, Mandela and 'shithole' countries."

Are you trying to get us to vote for him even more enthusiaticaly? Because that would be the result.

I know several people from African and Middle-Eastern countries. Guess what they say about their former places of residence? Guess how much they love their new home, where they are safer and more prosperous?

As for Obama, he was always a Faux-Obama.

Drago म्हणाले...

LLR-lefty and Whitmer fanboy Chuck: "Dear God, please let there be a tape recording of Trump talking about Obama, Mandela and “shithole” countries."

The Historian: "https://youtu.be/urFPm857tJA

It's a video that allegedly dates from the 2012 Republican convention. The video was posted to YouTube seven years ago."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLxforever

Its perfect isn't it?

Absolutely perfect.

These really are the "best" hoaxes the marxist LLR-lefties and democraticals can come up with.

Its as if the dems are taking advice directly from LLR-lefty Chuck, Li'l stevie uhr and readering.

rcocean म्हणाले...

I don't believe a word Cohen says. what a scumbag. He was hired by Trump to be a scumbag. And he was good at it. Of course, he had NO loyalty to Trump or any of his other clients. In case anyone's forgotten he would tape all his clients without them knowing about it.

Now, he's trying to get some $$$ by attacking Trump. He not only is attacking Trump based on his general Scumbag personality, he's also upset Trump didn't pardon him or (going back) chief of staff in Jan 2017. can you imagine Cohen as a Chief of Staff? He would've gotten Trump removed from office.

BTW, Trump seems to had a good business personnel practice which has turned out badly as POTUS. That is, he surrounds himself with people who are good in their area of expertise, but are not loyal. Or they are competent, but disagree with his policies. In business this works, because you want pushback and you don't want "yes men". In politics however, these disloyal subordinates can sabotage your program and damage you by going public with their lies and gossip.

Drago म्हणाले...

Michael K: "Mandela tried but the blacks who followed him really destroyed the only successful economy in Africa."

Mandela stands out as an historic figure for truly moving towards real racial reconciliation and repair after his many years in jail as a violent marxist revolutionary.

His rejection of Winnie Mandela for her leadership role in having opposition members murdered in horrific ways, like "necklacing", is also noted.

rcocean म्हणाले...

What, no antisemitic anecdotes? Doesn't every disloyal Jewish subordinate have one in every tell-all book? I guess Cohen could only come up with some tepid racism.

Roughcoat म्हणाले...

Shouldn't that be "riffle"?

Lucien म्हणाले...

Michael Cohen is an embarrassment to anyone who ever practiced law. “Disloyal” is right. Even setting aside illicitly recording clients, he has made a name for himself by revealing client confidences (note that the duty of confidentiality is considerably broader than attorney-client privilege (just as the value of free speech is broader than the First Amendment)).

Drago म्हणाले...

You know, I feel bad for LLR-lefty Chuck.

As a supporter of marxist democratical policies he knows that his team of lunatics (most of whom are on some sort of psychological medication, like Chuck, probably, which would explain his violent fantasies towards women and children that he has expressed at Althouse) requires off the wall lies to bring down Trumps solid and now, clearly, unbreakable support.

And these serial lies just arent working for the marxist dems like they worked against the pro-dem-lite Romney and McCain.

So that makes this even more fun.

Whoever upthread said the democraticals would soon be tossing an actual kitchen sink at Trump are spot on.

stlcdr म्हणाले...

In other news, Trump is in a political race whose opponents are criminals, cowards, scum, liars, con artists and downright nasty; all supported by an extensive propaganda machine.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Wow! CNN reporting on an unsubstantiated claim from Cohen. (Unidentified man, unknown context ...)

That's an I Don't Believe It twofer!

Darrell म्हणाले...

Hillary would have brought up Papa Doc and Baby Doc. Afterall, that country paid for her daughter;s wedding.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

Sounds like good debate prep and/or a way to work through the psychology...

Jason म्हणाले...

Reminds me of Chuck's 'pecan pie' episode.

Remember that, Chuckles? Funny stuff.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

That's it. Stick a fork in him. He's done. CNN has finally gotten him. The only problem is Cohen. If they only had an anonymous source or four, this story would be bullet-proof.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Glad I searched the thread first- Drago points out, this isn't unknown. I had seen the video several years ago, and remembered it immediately on looking at the photograph.

I can see why the video wasn't used at the RNC, but it is actually pretty funny. Did anyone at CNN actually Google this- I found it immediately.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Ok, not Drago, but Steve and then The Historian.

Drago म्हणाले...

stlcdr: "In other news, Trump is in a political race whose opponents are criminals, cowards, scum, liars, con artists and downright nasty; all supported by an extensive propaganda machine."

And those opponents of Trump have marxist/far left supporters who often pretend to be lifelong republicans when posting on popular blogsites.

Drago म्हणाले...

Jason: "Reminds me of Chuck's 'pecan pie' episode."

That episode sent LLR-lefty Chuck into a spittle flecked rage and he ended up physically threatening others.

Of course, I might be confusing that LLR-lefty Chuck lunatic moment with the other many instances where LLR-lefty Chuck threatened others.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"Dear God, please let there be a tape recording of Trump talking about Obama, Mandela and “shithole” countries."

Let's say Trump said those things. What about them isn't true?

Drago म्हणाले...

YW: "I can see why the video wasn't used at the RNC, but it is actually pretty funny. Did anyone at CNN actually Google this- I found it immediately."

Perhaps the russians were hiding the video to make LLR-lefty Chuck look even dumber than usual.

Sam L. म्हणाले...

It's CNN. Why should I believe THEM????

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"The exercise of telling him off to his face might have been conceived of as an effective way to build Trump's style and confidence."

I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. Build Trump confidence? Really? Nobody at anytime ever said "we need to build Trump's confidence".

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"Ranting about Obama after he won office in 2008, Trump said, "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a sh*thole...They are all complete f*cking toilets," according to Cohen. After Nelson Mandela died, Trump allegedly said of South Africa that "Mandela f*cked the whole country up. Now it's a sh*thole. F*ck Mandela. He was no leader."

I wouldn't believe anything coming from Cohen, but does anybody want to refute the points made in this alleged statement?

Michael K म्हणाले...

His rejection of Winnie Mandela for her leadership role in having opposition members murdered in horrific ways, like "necklacing", is also noted.

Agreed but every ANC politician since has followed Winnie's model. The white farmers, some of whose families have been there for 300 years, are all looking for an exit. South Africa will be Zimbabwe II soon.

hombre म्हणाले...

Wonder where Barack’s latest book is? You know, the latest to compliment “Dreams From My Father Who I Never Met.”

Benefactors expecting to benefit buying lots of books - a great way to get rich.

Drago म्हणाले...

Michael K: "Agreed but every ANC politician since has followed Winnie's model. The white farmers, some of whose families have been there for 300 years, are all looking for an exit. South Africa will be Zimbabwe II soon."

The murders of white farmers continues apace, it is true. I simply believe that if Mandela were alive he would have fought against it.

Balfegor म्हणाले...

Re: rhhardin:

Maybe you need a certain level of IQ to be a prosperous country, but I don't think the raw human capital in Africa is so terrible that the countries there couldn't form effective governments. Rwanda, for example, is apparently fairly well-governed today, although it remains extremely poor, and its elections have margins that are . . . facially implausible. African countries seem to suffer from a mix of violent ethnic hatreds (e.g. what brought down Mali's government recently), bonkers left-wing economic development policies left over from when the Soviet Union was trying to turn them all into communist client states, and pure kleptocracy by aging independence activists of the Mugabe type, whose sole qualification for high office was that they had opposed the colonial power.

In my mental model, I analogise African state dysfunction to Korea in the immediate postwar period. Korean average IQ is significantly higher than most African average IQs (some possible exceptions, e.g. Igbo). But you still saw similar dysfunction. Today, mostly in Communist North Korea -- no matter how smart you are, Communism still won't work. But you also saw it in South Korea, before the coup that brought Park Chunghee and his coterie of former Imperial Army officers to power.

Syngman Rhee, the independence activist whom ended up as the first president of South Korea with our connivance, was possibly the greatest mass murderer in Korean history, (except perhaps for Kim Il-Sung). In 1948, he directed the mass murder of tens of thousands of civilians on Jeju -- some Communist militants, but mostly just villagers. In the Korean War, his opening move was to liquidate all political prisoners -- about 100,000 murdered. But what really reminds me of Africa is the astonishing greed of the government. The best illustration is probably the National Defense Corps incident, in the middle of the Korean War, where the son in law of the Minister of Defense was put in charge of provisioning a massive conscript army of some 400,000 men who had to be marched down to the south in the dead of winter, 1950-1951. THe embezzled all the money that was supposed to go to clothing and equipping the troops, and something like 100,000 people died on the death march. They couldn't even control themselves in the middle of a war for their own survival. The independence activists and failed revolutionaries who dominated the first independent government of South Korea were, in a word, trash. They were so greedy and incompetent it would be comical if it didn't also involve a million people dying. They wouldn't have been out of place in an African kleptocracy.

Basically, my view is that higher IQ won't solve the problems that Africa has. Maybe it would help on the margin, but smart people acting in a system laced with bad incentives will act on those bad incentives just like stupid people only worse. Revolutionary governments tend to be murderous and corrupt, and it's very hard to move from that state to a civilised state.